Method to provide ad hoc and password protected digital and voice networks

ABSTRACT

A method and system includes the ability for individuals to set up an ad hoc digital and voice network easily and rapidly to allow users to coordinate their activities by eliminating the need for pre-entry of data into a web or identifying others by name, phone numbers or email. This method is especially useful for police, fire fighters, military, first responders or other emergency situations for coordinating different organizations at the scene of a disaster to elevate conventional communication problems either up and down the chain of command or cross communication between different emergency units. The method and system provides that the users are only required to enter a specific Server IP address and an ad hoc event name, a password and perhaps the name of the particular unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/529,978 filed on Oct. 31, 2014, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/027,410filed on Sep. 16, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,880,042, issued Nov. 4,2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/751,453 filed Jan. 28, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,538,393 issued Sep.17, 2013, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/761,533 filed on Apr. 16, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,364,129issued Jan. 29, 2013, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/615,472 filed on Dec. 22, 2006, now U.S. Pat.No. 8,126,441 issued on Feb. 28, 2012, which is a continuation-in-partof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/308,648 filed Apr. 17, 2006, nowU.S. Pat. No. 7,630,724 issued on Dec. 8, 2009, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/711,490,filed on Sep. 21, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,031,728 issued on Apr. 18,2006. All of the preceding applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

A communications method and system using a plurality of cellular phoneseach having an integrated Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and GlobalPositioning System (GPS) receiver for the management of two or morepeople through the use of a communications network. The method andsystem provide each user with an integrated handheldcellular/PDA/GPS/phone that has Advanced Communication Softwareapplication programs (hereinafter referred to as ACS) and databases usedin conjunction with a remote Server that enable a user to quicklyestablish a communication network of cell phone participants having acommon temporary ad hoc network using mobile wireless communicationdevices.

The invention includes a method and communication system to quickly setup and provide ad hoc, password protected, digital and voice networks toallow a group of people to be able to set up a network easily andrapidly, especially in an emergency situation.

2. Description of Related Art

The purpose of a communications system is to transmit digital messagesfrom a source, located at one point, to user destination(s), located atother point(s) some distance away. A communications system is generallycomprised of three basic elements: transmitter, information channel andreceiver. One form of communication in recent years is cellular phonetelephony. A network of cellular communication systems set up around anarea such as the United States allows multiple users to talk to eachother, either on individual calls or on group calls. Some cellular phoneservices enable a cellular phone to engage in conference calls with asmall number of users. Furthermore, cellular conference calls can beestablished through 800 number services. Cellular telephony also nowincludes systems that include GPS navigation that utilizes satellitenavigation. These devices thus unite cellular phone technology withnavigation information, computer information transmission and receipt ofdata.

The method and operation of communication devices used herein aredescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,031,728 which is hereby incorporated byreference and U.S. Pat. No. 7,630,724.

Military, first responder, and other public and private emergency groupsneed to be able to set up ad hoc digital and voice networks easily andrapidly. These private networks may be temporary or longer lasting innature. The users need to be able to rapidly coordinate their activitieseliminating the need for pre-entry of data into a web and or identifyingothers by name, phone numbers or email addresses so that all intendedparticipants that enter the agreed ad hoc network name and password areboth digitally and voice interconnected. When a user or users leave thenetwork, no data concerning the network participants need be retained.

Coordinating different organizations at the scene of a disaster presentsseveral problems as there are voice and digital data (text messages)communications that need to be constantly occurring up and down thechain of command. As an example, communications are required from apolice chief to a police captain to a police lieutenant to a policesergeant to a policeman and then back up the same chain of command.Digital data exchange of GPS data or other means provides the locationcomponent of the units. Digital chat, text messages, white boards andphoto video exchange provide extensive collaboration. However, during adisaster, other first responders such as fire departments must becomeengaged. While the fire department users may have voice and digital data(text messages) communications up and down their chain of command, theseindividuals do not have the ability to cross communicate necessarilywith police units without a substantial degree of immediatecoordination. The method and system in accordance with the presentinvention described herein discloses how digital communications alongwith Personal Computer (PC) and PDA devices can be used to quicklyestablish user specific password protected private ad hoc voice and datanetworks to enable both data and voice communications up and down theirchain of command and simultaneously with different, not pre-known,organizations responding to a disaster. The invention defines a methodof accomplishing this by providing all personnel that need tocommunicate with each other with a PC or PDA which are interconnected toa Server using cellular or other communications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Applicant's communication system and method described herein is embodiedin the Advanced Communication Software (ACS) application programsdeveloped by applicant and installed in the integrated PDA/GPS cellphones used herein and remote Servers.

A plurality of Internet Protocol (IP) capable PDA/GPS devices eachhaving ACS application programs and databases provides a communicationnetwork in conjunction with a remote Server that provides the abilityto: a) establish an ad hoc network of devices so that the devices caneither broadcast to a group or selectively transmit to each of theother; each PDA/GPS phone starts by requesting access to the Server andidentifying a mutually agreed to network name and password and oncegranted, reports its GPS position and status; the Server then routes thedata to all signed on network participants so that each of the devicesexchange location, status and other information; (b) force the receivedinformation to the recipient's display and enable the recipient toacquire additional information by touching the display screen at aremote phone's location on the PDA display; (c) make calls to or senddata to remote phones by touching their display symbols and selectingthe appropriate soft switch; (d) layer a sufficient number of softswitches or buttons on the PDA display to perform the above functionswithout overlaying the map; and (e) allow a polling mode in each cellphone that permits a user to contact other cell phone users that have acommon interest or relationship with a password and identifier forcommunication and to establish quickly a temporary ad hoc networkespecially in an emergency.

A communication Server acts as a forwarder for IP communications betweenany combination of cell phone/PDA users and/or PC based users. Networkparticipant location, identity and status messages are sent to theServer by each user. Network participant entered tracks are also sent tothe Server. Because this network participant location and track data isof interest to all the network participants, the Server forwards thedata received from one participant to all other participants, causingtheir displays automatically, without any operator action, to displaythe received information, thus providing the information necessary forall network participants to know the identity, location and status ofall other network participants.

The Server also acts as a forwarder of data addressed from oneparticipant to one or more addressed participants, thus permitting thetransmission of free text, preformatted messages, photographs, video,Email and Uniform Resource Locator (URL) data from one networkparticipant to other selected network participants.

The above functions can also be accomplished using peer to peer WiFi,WiMax or other peer to peer communications. However, for use withcellular communications and to assure the level of security that cellphone companies require, a centralized static IP routable Server isused.

The IP Server also fills another role of being a database from whichdata can be requested by network participants (i.e. maps, satelliteimages, and the like) or can be pushed to network participants (i.e.symbology and soft switch changes, and the like). The Server is used toestablish an ad hoc network within certain groups using an ad hoc eventname and password.

This invention provides a method and a system establishing an ad hocpassword protected digital and voice network that can be temporarily setup or longer lasting in nature. The invention described herein allowsusers to rapidly coordinate their activities without having to pre-enterdata into a web or identify others by name, E mail addresses or phonenumbers. Essentially the users that establish the ad hoc and passwordprotected digital and voice networks are required to enter the Server'sIP address and an ad hoc event name and a password. In the case ofmilitary and first responders, the name of the user's unit may also beused. This action causes the specific PDA or PC of the user to commencereporting directly to the Server's IP address. Once the Server receivesthe initial IP message from the user's PDA or PC, the server cancommence to exchange data with the user's PDA or PC. The initial IPmessage may also contain additional data such as a license number and,if desired, a phone number manually entered or automatically acquired bythe ACS. The IP address of the PDA and PC unit sending the initial IPmessage is stored by the Server. The Server then responds with a messagenotifying the user that his PC/PDA is connected to the Server. The userPDA/PC then reports its GPS location and other status informationdirectly to the Server. This information is retained by the Server evenwhen there are no other devices initially communicating with the Server.When the other user's devices sign on to the Server with the same ad hocevent name and password, the Server software then recognizes all theusers and stores their IP addresses in the Server. Thus the Server hasall the users IP addresses stored and can pass location and statusinformation among the ad hoc network participants even though thenetwork participants have not entered other network participants' names,phone numbers or email addresses. Thus one of the purposes of theinvention is to allow an ad hoc network to be formed on a temporarybasis in a rapid manner.

When using the PTT feature, the ACS can enable the network participantto: 1. PTT with all that are in the ad hoc digital network, or 2. PTTwith select specific network participants, by touching their symbol(s)and then selecting PTT soft switch or 3. Specify a group of the networkparticipants by assigning their symbols or unit names to a list ofnetwork participants and then associating the list with a soft switchwhose function is to enable the operator to have PTT communications withall in the list.

Since only one person is transmitting on a PTT voice network at anygiven time, the receiving network participant's ACS can relate the PTTIP address to the IP address of the unit transmitting his identificationon the digital ad hoc network. This information can then be used by theother PTT networked participant's ACS to: 1. flash the transmittingunit's name on their PDA/PC screens or 2. if a photograph has beenattached to the ad hoc digital network symbol of the PTT transmittingperson, to flash that photograph on the receiving unit's PDA/PC display.

It is an object of this invention to enable each participant in thecommunication network to join other ad hoc network participants to forman ad hoc digital and voice network with other cell phone users rapidlyfor coordinating member activities.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with particularreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a front plan view of a cellular phone/PDA/GPS having atouch screen.

FIG. 2 shows the screen IP address entry menu.

FIG. 3 shows ad hoc net names and password screen entry name.

FIG. 4 shows a screen entry identifying user.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the network as users sign on to thenetwork.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart that depicts how a group commander can commandnetworked PDAs/PCS and radios to load a Push To Talk (PTT) channel.

FIG. 7 shows a flow chart that depicts how networked radio units respondto receipt of the Push-to-Talk (PTT) Commanded Channel.

FIG. 8 shows a PDA screen geographical display that represents the areacovered by the network.

FIG. 9 shows a diagram that enables determining location, status, ViOP,PTT, and video communication between radios and cell phones.

FIG. 10 shows a diagram that describes enabling non RFID equipped PDAphones to receive RFID tag data.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A method and communication system that joins a communications network ofparticipants using handheld cell phones having integrated PDA and GPScircuitry with ACS application programs that allow a participant havingan ACS equipped cell phone to provide an ad hoc and password protecteddigital and voice network.

A communication Server acts as a forwarder for IP communications betweenany combination of cell phone/PDA users and/or PC based user. Networkparticipant location, identity and status messages are sent to theServer by each user. Network participant entered tracks are also sent tothe Server. Because this data is of interest to all the networkparticipants, the Server forwards the data received from one participantto all other participants, thus providing the information necessary forall network participants to know the identity, location and status ofall other network participants.

The Server allows the set up of the ad hoc network with an ad hoc eventname and a password.

The Server also acts as a forwarder of data addressed from oneparticipant to one or more addressed participants, thus permitting thetransmission of free text, preformatted messages, photographs, video,email and URL data from one network participant to other selectednetwork participants.

Referring now to the drawings and, in particular, to FIG. 1, a smallhandheld cellular phone 10 is shown that includes a PDA and a GPScommunications device integrated in housing 12 that includes an on/offpower switch 19, a microphone 38, and a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)display 16 that is also a touch screen system. The small area 16 a isthe navigation bar that depicts the telephone, GPS and other status dataand the active software. Each cell phone includes a Central ProcessingUnit (CPU) and databases that store information useful in thecommunication network. The CPU also includes a symbol generator forcreating touch screen display symbols discussed herein. With the touchscreen 16, the screen symbols are entered through GPS inputs or by theoperator using a stylus 14 (or operator finger) by manipulativelydirecting the stylus 14 to literally touch display 16. The soft switches16 d displayed on the display 16 are likewise activated by using astylus 14 and physically and manipulatively directing the stylus toliterally touch display 16. The display x, y coordinates of the touchedpoint are known by a CPU in the PDA section of the communication systemin housing 12 that can coordinate various information contained in thePDA relative to the x, y coordinate position on the display 16. Insidehousing 12 is contained the conventional cellular phone elementsincluding a modem, a CPU for use with a PDA and associated circuitryconnected to speaker 24 and microphone 38. A GPS navigational receiverthat receives signals from satellites that can determine the latitudeand longitude of the cellular phone housing 12 can be internal orexternal to the housing 12. Conventional PDA/cellular phones arecurrently on sale and sold as a unit (or with an external connected GPS)that can be used for cellular telephone calls and sending cellular ShortMessage Service (SMS) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) TCP/IP orother messages using the PDA's display 16 and computer CPU. The GPSsystem including a receiver in housing 12 is capable of determining thelatitude and longitude and through SMS, TCP/IP, WiFi or other digitalmessaging software, to also transmit this latitude and longitudeinformation of housing 12 to other cellular phones in the communicationnetwork via cellular communications, WiFi or radio. The device 10includes a pair of cellular phone hardware activating buttons 20 to turnthe cellular phone on and 22 to turn the cellular phone off. Navigationpad actuator 18 is similar to a joy or force stick in that the actuator18 manually provides movement commands that can be used by the PDA'ssoftware to move a cursor on display 16. Switches 26 and 28 are designedto quickly select an operator specified network software program.Speaker 24 and microphone 38 are used for audio messages. Switch 19 atthe top left of device 10 is the power on and power off switch for theentire device.

The heart of the invention lies in the applicant's ACS applicationprograms provided in the device. The ACS programs are activated byclicking on an icon on the display to turn the ACS programs on or off.Mounted within housing 12 as part of the PDA is the display 16 and theCPU. The internal CPU includes databases and software applicationprograms that provide for a geographical map and georeferenced entitiesthat are shown as display portion 16 b that includes as part of thedisplay various areas of interest in the particular local map section.

When looking at display 16, the software switches (soft switches) whichappear at the very bottom of the display 16 d are used to control bytouch many of the software driven functions of the cellular phone andPDA. The soft switches are activated through the operator's use of thenavigation pad 18, or a small track ball, force stick or similarhardware display cursor pointing device. Alternatively, the operator maychoose to activate the software switches by touching the screen with astylus 14 (or finger) at the switches' 16 d locations. When some of thesoftware switches are activated, different software switches appear. Thebar display 16 d shows the software switches “ZM IN (zoom in),” “ZM OT(zoom out),” “CENT (center)” and “GRAB (pan/grab)” at the bottom of thescreen. These software switches enable the operator to perform thesefunctions. The “SWITH (switch)” software switch at the lower rightcauses a matrix of layered software switches (soft switches) to appearabove the bottom row of switches. Through use of the software switches,the operator can also manipulate the geographical map 16 b or chartdisplay. When looking at FIG. 1, display symbols depicting permanentgeographical locations and buildings are shown. For example, the policestation is shown and, when the symbol is touched by the stylus orfinger, the latitude and longitude of the symbol's location, as shown indisplay section 16 c, is displayed at the bottom left of the screen. Thebottom right side of display 16 c is a multifunction inset area that cancontain a variety of information including: a) a list of thecommunication link participants; b) a list of received messages; c) amap, aerial photograph or satellite image with an indication of the zoomand offset location of the main map display, which is indicated by asquare that depicts the area actually displayed in the main geographicalscreen 16 b; d) applicable status information; and e) a list of thecommunication net participants. Each participant user would have adevice 10 shown in FIG. 1.

Also shown on the display screen 16, specifically the geographicaldisplay 16 b, is a pair of different looking symbols 30 and 34, a smalltriangle and a small square, which are not labeled. These symbols 30 and34 can represent communication net participants having cellular phonesin the displayed geographical area that are part of the overall cellularphone communications net, each participant having the same device 10used. The latitude and longitude of symbol 30 is associated within adatabase with a specific cell phone number and, if available, its IPaddress and email address. The screen display 16 b, which is a touchscreen, provides x and y coordinates of the screen 16 b to the CPU'ssoftware from a map in a geographical database. The software has analgorithm that relates the x and y coordinates to latitude and longitudeand can access a communications net participant's symbol or a fixed ormovable entity's symbol as being the one closest to that point.

In order to initiate a telephone call to the cellular phone user(communication net participant) represented by symbol (triangle) 30 at aspecific latitude and longitude display on chart 16 b, the operatortouches the triangle 30 symbol with the stylus 14. The user then touchesa “call” software switch from a matrix of displayed soft switches thatwould overlay the display area 16 c. Immediately, the cellular phonewill initiate a cellular telephone call to the cellular phone user atthe geographical location shown that represents symbol 30. A secondcellular phone user (communication net participant) is represented bysymbol 34 which is a small square (but could be any shape or icon) torepresent an individual cellular phone device in the display area. Thering 32 around symbol 30 indicates that the symbol 30 has been touchedand that a telephone call can be initiated by touching the soft switchthat says “call.” When this is done, the telephone call is initiated.Other types of symbolic elements on the display 16 can indicate that acellular phone call is in effect. Additionally, the operator can touchboth symbol 34 and symbol 30 and can activate a conference call betweenthe two cellular phones and users represented by symbols 30 and 34.Again, a symbolic ring around symbol 34 indicates that a call has beeninitiated.

Equally important, a user can call the police station, or any otherspecific geographical facility displayed on the map including:buildings, locations of people, vehicles, facilities, restaurants, orthe like, whose cellular phone numbers and, if available, Emailaddresses, IP addresses and their URLs (previously stored in thedatabase) by touching a specific facility location on the map displayusing the stylus 14 and then touching the cellular phone call switch. Asan example, the operator can touch and point to call a restaurant usinga soft switch by touching the restaurant location with a stylus and thentouching the call soft switch. The cellular phone will then call therestaurant. Thus, using the present invention, each participant cantouch and point to call to one or more other net participantssymbolically displayed on the map, each of whom has a device as shown inFIG. 1, and can also point to call facilities that had been previouslystored in the phone's database. Furthermore, this symbol hooking andsoft switch technique can be used to go to a fixed facility's website orto automatically enter the fixed facility's email address in an email.

Each cellular phone/PDA/GPS user device is identified on the map displayof the other network participant user's phone devices by a displaysymbol that is generated on each user phone display to indicate eachuser's own location and identity. Each symbol is placed at the correctgeographical location on the user display and is correlated with the mapon the display and is transmitted and automatically displayed on theother network participant's PC and PDA devices. The operator of eachcellular phone/PDA/GPS device may also enter one or more other fixedentities (buildings, facilities, restaurants, police stations, etc.) andgeo-referenced events such as fires, accidents, etc., into its database.This information can be likewise transmitted to all the otherparticipants on the communications net and automatically displayed. Themap, fixed entities, events and cellular phone/PDA/GPS devicecommunication net participants' latitude and longitude information isrelated to the “x” and “y” location on the touch screen display map by amathematical correlation algorithm.

When the cellular phone/PDA/GPS device user uses a stylus or finger totouch one or more of the symbols or a location displayed on the cellularphone map display, the system's software causes the status and latitudeand longitude information concerning that symbol or location to bedisplayed. In order to hook a symbol or “track” such as another netparticipant which represents an entity on the geo-referenced mapdisplay, or a fixed geographical entity such as a restaurant, policestation or a new entity observed by a cell phone user which is discussedbelow, the operator touches at or near the location of a geo-referencedsymbol appearing on the cellular phone/PDA display that represents aspecific track or specific participant or other entity. The hookapplication software determines that the stylus (or finger) is pointedclose to or at the location of the symbol and puts a circle, square orother indication around the symbol indicating that amplificationinformation concerning the symbol is to be displayed. The operator canhook entered tracks or his own track symbol and add data or change dataassociated with the indicated symbol. The hook application code thensends a message to the database application code to store the facilityor entity's updated data. The display application code retrieves theprimary data and amplification data concerning the symbol or entity fromthe database and displays the information at the correct screenlocation. The operator can then read the amplification data that relatesto that specific symbol at the specific location. The cell phoneoperator can also select soft switches on the touch screen display tochange the primary data and amplification data. Furthermore, theoperator can use a similar method of hooking and selecting to activateparticular soft switches to take other actions which could include:making cellular phone calls, conference calls, 800 number calls; sendinga free text message, operator selected preformatted messages,photographs or videos to the hooked symbol; or to drop an enteredsymbol.

Each known net participant has a cellular phone number, IP address and,if available, Email address that is stored in each participant's devicedatabase.

To use the communication system, a user starts the PDA/cellular phonedevice system by turning on the cell phone power and selecting the cellphone and network software which causes: a) the cellular phone to beactivated (if it has not already been activated); b) the GPS interfacereceiver to be established; c) a map of the geographic area where theoperator is located and operator's own unit symbol to appear at thecorrect latitude and longitude on the map on the display; d) thelocations of fixed facilities such as restaurants, hotels, firedepartments, police stations, and military barracks, that are part ofthe database to appear as symbols on the map; e) the device selecteditem read out area which provides amplification information for thecommunications net participants or the entity that has been hooked (onthe display screen) to appear on the display; f) an insert area thatcontains various data including: the list of net participants, a list ofmessages to be read, an indication of what portion of the map is beingdisplayed in major map area and other information to appear on thedisplay; and g) a row of primary software created “soft switches” thatare always present on the display to appear.

For point to call network units and fixed facilities, the applicationcode detects the x, y display screen location of the symbol that isdesignated by the user's stylus and translates the x, y coordinates tolatitude and longitude and then: (1) searches the database to find thesymbol at that location, (2) places a “hook” indicator (a circle, squareor other shape) around the symbol, (3) displays any amplifying data and(4) obtains the symbol's associated phone number (or, for Voice over IP(VoIP) an IP address) from the database. Upon receiving a “call”designation from the soft switch, the operator's device's ACS causes theappropriate phone number or IP address to be called. Upon receiving anindication that the phone number is being called, the application codeplaces a box around the symbol (color, dashed or the like). When thecall is connected, the box changes to indicate that the connection ismade. When the other party hangs up, the box disappears.

As each of the cell phone participants reports its identity, locationand status to the other participants' devices, the received data isautomatically geo-referenced and filed in their databases that areaccessible by identity and by location. This data is then displayed oneach cell phone display. When a request for data is received by touchingthe display screen, a location search is made by the ACS and a symbolmodifier (circle, square, etc.) is generated around the symbol closestto the x, y position of the stylus. When the application code receives asoft switch command to place a phone call or send data, the softwareuses the phone number (or IP address) associated with the unit to placethe call or to send data.

If a cell phone device receives a digital message that a call is beingreceived, the receiving cell phone's ACS application code places a boxor similar object around the transmitter symbol indicating who the callis from. When the call is answered, the application software changes thevisual characteristics of the box. In a similar manner, when a phonereceives a digital text message, photograph or video, a box appearsaround the transmitter's symbol indicating the transmitter of themessage. The point to call network devices are network participants andeach one has a PC/PDA device with the same software for use as a totalparticipant network. Other situations for calling facilities that arenot network participants are also described below.

Thus, a user is capable of initiating a cellular phone call by touchonly and initiating conference calls by touching the geo-referenced mapsymbols. Furthermore, by using a similar symbol touching technique, acellular phone can send user selected messages to cause a remotecellular phone to display and optionally announce emergency and othermessages and to optionally elicit a response from the remote cellularphone.

All of the network participants have the same communication cellphone/PDA/GPS device described herein. The method and system include theability of a specific user to provide polling in which other cellularphones, using SMS, internet or WiFi, report periodically based oncriteria such as time, speed, distance traveled, or a combination oftime, speed and distance traveled. A user can manually poll any or allother cell phone devices that are used by all of the participants in thecommunication network having the same devices. The receiving cellularphone application code responds to the polling command with thereceiving cellular phone's location and status which could includebattery level, GPS status, signal strength and entered track data.Optionally, the phone operators can set their phones to reportautomatically, based on time or distance traveled intervals or anothercriterion.

The soft switch application software causes a visual display of a matrixsuch as five across by six up (or another matrix) in which switch namesare placed on the cellular/PDA display. The soft switch networkapplication software knows the touch screen location of each of theswitches in the matrix and the software routines that will be activatedupon touching the switch.

The bottom row of soft switches displayed on the touch screen remainsvisually fixed. These switches concern the functions that are the mostoften used. One of the switches causes a matrix of other soft switchesto appear above the visually fixed soft switches. These switches arefunction soft switches, the activation of any one of which causes adifferent matrix of soft switches to appear, which are known as theaction soft switches. When the action soft switches appear, the functionsoft switch, which caused the action soft switches to appear, itselfappears as a label in the lower left (or some other standard location)indicating to the operator the function soft switch that has beenselected. When the operator selects an action soft switch, theappropriate application software to accomplish the action is activated.

Upon receiving a soft switch activation message, the ACS accesses theappropriate task execution software which accomplishes the requiredtasks including: entry of track data, entry of track amplification data,transmission of alpha/numeric messages, photographs, videos, display ofmessages to be read, selection of map types, placing voice calls,placing conference calls and 800 conference calls, presenting differentpotential operator selections, control of the display actions, pollingnetwork participants, establishing nets of participants (groups) so thatcommunications with all in the group can be accomplished with a singlesoft switch action, and dropping a previously entered track. Byproviding a matrix and layers of soft switches which are easilymanipulated by a stylus, each cell phone device in the communicationnetwork is extremely efficient in accessing and coordinating theappropriate application program for the device to perform.

Users such as emergency groups, police, fire personal, military, firstresponders and other groups need to be able to set up ad hoc digital andvoice networks easily and rapidly. The users need to be able to rapidlycoordinate activities eliminating the need for pre-entry data asdiscussed above. Users are required to enter the Servers' IP address andan ad hoc event name, a password and, for first responders and military,the names of their units. This will normally be controlled by the PDA/PCuser's position in the chain of command. For others it can be anyselected name and, if desired, password.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the PDA/PC screen displays an IP address entrymenu. The user inserts the Server's IP address. Thus, as shown in FIG.2, the user has entered in the cell phone/PDA the Server IP address andport number along with the GPS port listing and other information. Oncethat information is entered, referring now to FIG. 3, the user nowenters the ad hoc event network name which is shown in this example as“Katrina” along with a password. Referring now to FIG. 4, the user thenenters the user name or a unit name. FIG. 4 shows the entered user nameand a phone number. The phone number may be automatically entered by theACS or manually entered. The phone number is not required unless usingthe phone system (not VoIP) to make calls. These are the initial usersteps required to establish an ad hoc network or to join onto anexisting ad hoc network.

Referring now to FIG. 5, these actions cause the user cell phone/PDA orPC to commence reporting to the Server. Upon receipt of the initialmessage from the user's PDA/PC, which may also contain additional datasuch as a license number, the Server stores the IP address of the user'sPDA/PC unit and responds with a message notifying the user that he orshe is connected to the Server. The PDA/PC then automatically commencesto report its GPS derived location and other status information to theServer. Since there are no other devices initially communicating withthe Server, the Server just retains the information. When other devicessign on to the Server with the same ad hoc event name and password, theServer's software recognizes this and stores their IP addresses. Sincethe Server has all parties' IP addresses, the server is able to passlocation and status information automatically between the ad hoc networkparticipants. This can occur even though the ad hoc network participantshave not entered other network participant's names, telephone numbers orEmail addresses and do not have the other network participants' IPaddresses, phone numbers or Email addresses. Once this connection ismade, data types that are entered on one display that is of interest toall is sent from the server to all others in the network. Such datatypes include track location and track amplification data,geo-referenced white boards, and chat.

When the PDA/PC user wants to address particular data (a text message,photograph, video clip, voice recording, white board, or chat), the userenters the name of the other ad hoc network participant by eitherentering a name or touching his or her symbol. Since the Server knowsthe IP address of the name or symbol, the Server forwards the dataappropriately to that network participant. When a unit signs off thenetwork, it transmits a message to the Server which then transmits amessage to all the network participants to drop the unit and itsassociated tracks. If a unit loses communications for a variable timeperiod, the unit's data is flushed from each of the recipient networkparticipants systems according to a variable time period. After aseparate variable time period, the Server also flushes the non-reportingunits data.

As can be seen in FIG. 6, provisions have been made for the PDA/PC toreport on multiple networks thus allowing both digital communications upand down the chain of command and with adjacent units that have entereda common ad hoc network name and password.

Typically military and First Responder units use Push-to-Talk (PTT)communications. Units in an organization's chain of command typicallyhave instituted a method to establish voice communications betweenthemselves for they know each other's cellular phone numbers, PTTcellular group identifiers and radio frequencies or channel numbers.However, in a disaster there are many different units (fire, police,EMS, Military, and the like) involved all of whom need to establishvoice communications between each other. The issue then becomes how tocoordinate these PTT voice communications with the ad hoc digitalcommunications so that all on the digital data network automaticallyalso have PTT voice communications with each other. If the PCs and PDAsin a group have manually entered their phone numbers, or the ACS hasautomatically entered their phone numbers, and sent their phone numbersas part of their initial message to the Server, this data is then sentby the Server to all others in the network. Upon receiving the phonenumber data, the recipients' ACS loads the cell phones numbers intotheir databases creating a phone number PTT group common with thedigital IP network group.

The issue when using radios, however, is different. PTT radiocoordination between multiple people is achieved by using a common radiofrequency “Channel”.

Furthermore, it is desirable to enable it so that, when new networkparticipants join the digital network, they are automatically includedin the voice network and, when they leave the digital network, they areautomatically dropped from the digital network.

As can be seen in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, a network participant currently canestablish a new ad hoc digital network or join an existing ad hocdigital network by entering the ad hoc network name and password intohis PDA/PC. To enable voice coordination with all that are a part of thead hoc digital network, the user then enters (if user is authorized todo so) a Channel or Group number that the user is commanding all in thead hoc network to establish as their PTT voice net. As seen in FIG. 6,the operator has commanded all to shift to Radio Channel or to aspecific PTT cellular or radio channel; i.e. Group 7.

This action causes the PTT Channel, or PTT Group 7, to be sent to theother PDA/PC users in the ad hoc password protected network through theServer.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the Group leader enters the Katrina Firead hoc network and issues a command which is sent to the Server to causethe PDAs/PCs that are in the Katrina Fire Group to automatically shifttheir Radio or cellular device to Channel 7. Each PDA cell phone canconnect to the user's Radio for control with a USB cable, or WiFi,Bluetooth, or Near Field Communications (NFC) signals or othercommunications that are contained in the PDA/PC cellular device. Thisenables the Radios to shift to a common channel. This action is receivedby the Server which then sends the “Shift to Channel 7 Command” to allnetwork participants in the Katrina Fire ad hoc network. When thePDA/PC/Tablet Katrina Fire network participant's software receives thecommand to shift its Radio Channel PPT to Group 7, this action causesthe PDA's ACS to establish a new Channel 7 group (or to override an oldChannel 7 group) that consists of all on the digital ad hoc network. ThePC and PDAs then send their radios' digital interfaces messages to shiftto Channel 7 or to the frequency associated with Channel 7. Thedigitally networked PC's and PDA's ACS devices then send a message toall on the digital network that they have shifted to Channel 7 (or tothe appropriate frequency) and also further send the Group Leader'sidentifier and Command to shift to Channel 7 so that the ACS' devicesassociated with new users joining the digital network will automaticallydigitally set their radios to Channel 7 or the appropriate frequency.

As shown in FIG. 7, each time one of the network participants reports tothe Katrina Fire network its Name, Position and Status, it now alsoreports that it is in PTT Channel 7 enabling the PTT group to grows insize until it encompasses all in the ad hoc password protected digitalnetwork. When units drop out of the Common Interest Network or losecommunications because they are no longer active or they are out ofrange, their PTT Channel data is likewise dropped as they dropped out ofthe digital because their reports have not been received for a set, butadjustable, time period. If a unit rejoins the network, their PTT Nameand Phone number is again automatically added to the Katrina FireInterest Group as they are accepted by the Server into the Katrina FireInterest digital Group.

When using the PTT feature, the ACS can enable the network participantto: 1. PTT with all that are in the ad hoc digital network, or 2. PTTwith select specific network participants, by touching their symbol(s)and then selecting PTT soft switch or 3. Specify a group of the networkparticipants by assigning their symbol or unit name to a list of networkparticipants and then associating the list with a soft switch whosefunction is to enable the operator to have PTT communications with allin the list.

Since only one person is transmitting on a PTT voice network at anygiven time, the receiving network participant's ACS can relate the PTTIP address to the IP address of the unit transmitting his identificationon the digital ad hoc network. This information can then be used by theother PTT networked participant's ACS to: 1. flash the transmittingunit's name on their PDA/PC screens or 2. if a photograph has beenattached to the ad hoc digital network symbol of the PTT transmittingperson, to flash that photograph on the receiving unit's PDA/PC display.

Referring now to FIG. 8, for some Emergency events, and in particularmilitary operations, it is desirable to further define ad hoc networksso that the networks encompass only a certain geographical area definedby boundary lines on a map. To accomplish this, an enhancement to the adhoc digital and voice PTT password protected network is provided. As anexample, once the Katrina Fire digital and PTT network is established,the ad hoc network can be further refined by the Group Leader defining amap area that limits the participating group to only those users withina geographically defined area by the Group Leader, creating on hisPC/PDA display a box that defines a geographic area on a map.

As shown in FIG. 8, the Latitude/Longitude points that define therectangle of the boundary area are sent from the Group Leader's deviceto the Server which relays the data to the other participating unitPC/PDA devices in the Katrina Fire network. When the participating unitdevices receive the Latitude/Longitude points, their software computeswhether their PC/PDA unit is inside or outside a boundary area. If theusers are inside the defined area, the users retain but disregard theLatitude/Longitude data and continue to report on the digital passwordprotected network and to use the commanded PTT channel/frequency.However, if the users are outside the area, the users send a “drop memessage” to the Katrina Fire PDA/PC digital network Server and ceasereporting on the network. When Katrina Fire network PDA/PC user unitsleave the defined area or lose communications for a specified, butadjustable, time period, the Server drops the unit from the network andinforms all network users that the unit is dropped from the digitalnetwork and from voice PTT Channel 7 which causes all others on thenetwork to drop them. When Katrina Fire networked PDA/PC user unitsre-enter the area, the unit's ACS detects the fact and commencesreporting as it receives reports from other network participants it willreceive the current PTT channel or frequency.

In disasters, battery life is essential as there may not be extrabatteries available or a power available to recharge the battery. It istherefore essential to lessen battery utilization. The normal method bywhich this is accomplished is to not use software that keeps the displayon, uses the GPS or transmits on the communications. However,deactivating any one of these processes produces a problem withproviding location data to all on the network.

With location sharing there are essentially two times when the locationinformation is essential: a) Where the user wants all to know his/herlocation and status and the location and status of others and b) Whenthe commander wants to know the location and status of all or of aparticular unit.

When the user wants others to know the user location and status, theuser can simply turn on location reporting software which then turns onthe display, the GPS and the communications reporting software causingthe reporting of the user location to the ad hoc password protecteddigital network. However, when the commander or someone else wants toknow the location and status of the PDA/PC unit that is conservingbattery usage by having user display, GPS and communicationstransmission turned on, the commander has no method to accomplish this.

This problem is overcome by enabling the commander to transmit a “turnon” IP message to the battery conserving(s) unit(s) by addressing themessage to the ad hoc network Server which then sends an SMS message tothe addressed phone. The SMS message will be received as long as thephone is powered on, as SMS is integrated with the cell phone's voicecommunications. The Server could also send a turn on IP message tonetworked radios, which will then cause the radio's computer to send adigital message to the receiving PC/PDA to activate the user display andlocation and status reporting software.

Referring now to FIG. 9, the diagram illustrates the enabling oflocation, status, VoIP, PTT, and video communications between radios andcell phones. The server maintains a temporary retention of names and IPaddresses and sends data between all with the same ad hoc name unlessaddressed to a specific IP address. This requires that there is a radiowith digital capabilities attached to the server shown in FIGS. 5, 6,and 7. These radios are set so that they each have a unique IP address.All of the participants have either PDA cell phones or PDAs withoutcellular. Those that also have PDAs without cellular (or choose not touse cellular) are connected to their radios via a USB cable or Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, or near field communications (NFC) that is part of the PDA/PCOR PDA cell phone. This is illustrated in FIG. 9.

Referring now to FIG. 10 the diagram shows enabling non-RFID equippedPDA phones to receive RFID tag data. The server maintains a temporaryretention of how Tags relate to names and sends data to local displayand to other ACS network participants. Currently RFID tags are used formany functions, one of which is to track personnel inside a building tothe room or compartment in which they are located. This is accomplishedby RFID readers that are in each of the rooms. When personnel with anRFID tag get within a particular distance or range of the RFID reader,the reader detects their presence and sends it to a central site servervia a USB cable or Wi-Fi. The PC connected to the server displays thepersonnel room locations. With the invention described herein, theserver would then send the location to the ACS PDA/PC phones that wouldbe carried by individuals located throughout the building or ship. ThePDA/PC phones would display the room or ships compartments and thelocation of individuals with RFID tags and simultaneously enable PTT,chat, messaging, whiteboards, commands geo-fence penetration alerts orother types of messages between each of the PDA cell phones. The RFIDtag would provide room location data of all to all that are on the ACSWi-Fi network without their PDA cell phone having an RFID Readerattached to it. The operation is explained in detail in FIG. 10.

The instant invention has been shown and described herein in what isconsidered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment. It isrecognized, however, that departures may be made there from within thescope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to aperson skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: performing by a firstdevice: obtaining contact information of a plurality of second devices,wherein the contact information comprises respective telephone numbersof the second devices; facilitating initiation of Internet Protocol (IP)based communication between the first device and the respective seconddevices by using respective telephone numbers to send, from the firstdevice to the second devices, respective Short Message Service (SMS)messages including a telephone number of the first device andinformation usable b the respective second device to send IP-basedcommunication to the first device; receiving respective IP-basedresponses to the SMS messages, wherein the IP-based responses to the SMSmessages include location information of the respective second devices;transmitting IP-based messages including a location of the first deviceto the respective second devices; presenting, via an interactive displayof the first device, an interactive map and a plurality of userselectable symbols corresponding to the plurality of second devices,wherein the symbols are positioned on the map at respective positionscorresponding to the respective locations of the second devices;identifying user interaction with the interactive display selecting oneor more of the user-selectable symbols corresponding to one or more ofthe second devices and user interaction with the display specifying anaction and, based thereon, sending data to the one or more seconddevices; receiving user input via user interaction with the interactivedisplay of the first device, the user input specifying a location and asymbol corresponding to an entity other than the first device and thesecond devices; and based on the user input, adding the user-specifiedsymbol to the interactive display at a position on the interactive mapcorresponding to the user-specified location, and transmitting theuser-specified symbol and location to the second devices for addition ofthe user-specified symbol to respective interactive displays of thesecond devices at respective positions on respective interactive mapscorresponding to the user-specified location.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising performing, by the first device: presenting anothersymbol on the interactive map corresponding to a fixed location andassociated with a telephone number; and receiving user selection of theother symbol and, based thereon, initiating a telephone call to thetelephone number associated with the symbol.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein the data comprises a text message, an image, a video, or acommand to cause the second devices corresponding to the selectedsymbols to convert text to speech.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein: theSMS messages include an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the firstdevice; and the IP-based responses include respective IP addresses ofthe second devices.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprisingperforming by the first device: transmitting location informationincluding an updated location of the first device to the second devicesbased on displacement of the first device by at least a predetermineddistance relative to a previous location of the first device, passage ofat least a predetermined time interval since transmitting informationincluding a location of the first device, or a combination of thedisplacement of the first device and the passage of time.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising performing, by the first device:receiving second user selection of one or more of the symbolscorresponding to one or more of the second devices; and receiving userinput assigning the one or more second devices corresponding to thesecond selected one or more symbols to a sub-net.
 7. The method of claim6, further comprising performing, by the first device: receiving userselection of the sub-net; and establishing a conference among the one ormore second devices of the sub-net for sharing voice, text, photographs,or video communications.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstdevice is a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising performing, by the first device:identifying second user interaction with the interactive displayselecting at least one of the user-selectable symbols corresponding toat least one of the second devices and user interaction with the displayspecifying an action and, based thereon, initiating a phone call orphone conference with the at least one second device.
 10. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the video comprises a video clip or a videotransmission.
 11. The method of claim 6, further comprising performing,by the first device: receiving user selection of the sub-net; andcausing the one or more second devices of the sub-net to place a call,make a verbal announcement, convert text to speech, vibrate, or increasesound levels.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein first device sends theSMS messages and receives the IP-based responses via a cellularcommunications network.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprisingperforming, by a first device: identifying second user interaction withthe interactive display selecting a particular user-selectable symbolcorresponding to a particular second device and user interaction withthe display specifying an action and, based thereon, initiating a datacall with the particular second device.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein the user input further specifies information associated with theentity, and wherein the method further comprises performing, by thefirst device: based on the user input, transmitting the user-specifiedinformation associated with the entity to the second devices.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising performing, by the first device:identifying user interaction with the interactive display selecting thesymbol corresponding to the entity and, based, thereon, displaying theinformation associated with the entity.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the information comprises a category of the entity.
 17. Themethod of claim 15, wherein the first device uses an Internet Protocolto transmit the user-specified symbol, location, and informationassociated with the entity.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein theentity comprises a vehicle, a person, an event, a site, a building, or afacility.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-specified symbolis a first user-specified symbol, wherein the user-specified location isa first-user specified location, wherein the entity is a first entity,and wherein the method further comprises performing, by the firstdevice: receiving user-specified information transmitted by a particularsecond device, the user-specified information including a seconduser-specified location and a second user-specified symbol correspondingto a second entity other than the first device and the second devices;and adding the second user-specified symbol to the interactive displayat a position on the interactive map corresponding to the seconduser-specified location.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein theuser-specified information further includes information associated withthe second entity, and wherein the method further comprises performing,by the first device: identifying user interaction with the interactivedisplay selecting the second user-specified symbol corresponding to thesecond entity and, based, thereon, displaying the information associatedwith the second entity.
 21. The method of claim 1, further comprisingperforming, by the first device: presenting a symbol corresponding to afacility selected from the group consisting of a hospital, a policestation, and a fire station, wherein the symbol corresponding to thefacility is positioned on the interactive map at a positioncorresponding to a location of the facility.
 22. The method of claim 21,further comprising performing, by the first device: identifying userinteraction with the interactive display selecting the symbolcorresponding to the facility and, based, thereon, displayinginformation associated with the facility.
 23. The method of claim 1,further comprising performing, by the first device: receiving a messagesent by a particular second device, wherein the message indicates anaction to be performed by the first device; and performing the indicatedaction.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the indicated action isselected from the group consisting of playing audio, initiating a phonecall, vibrating, converting text to speech, changing sound intensity,and displaying information.
 25. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising performing, by the first device: remotely controlling aparticular second device to perform an action by sending a message tothe second device, wherein the message indicates the action to beperformed.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the indicated action isselected from the group consisting of playing audio, initiating a phonecall, vibrating, converting text to speech, changing sound intensity,and displaying information.
 27. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising performing, by the first device: identifying second userinteraction with the interactive display selecting a particularuser-selectable symbol corresponding to a particular second device anduser interaction with the display specifying an action and, basedthereon, initiating voice-over-IP (VOIP) communication with theparticular second device.
 28. A system comprising: a first deviceprogrammed to perform operations comprising: obtaining contactinformation of a plurality of second devices, wherein the contactinformation comprises respective telephone numbers of the seconddevices; facilitating initiation of Internet Protocol (IP) basedcommunication between the first device and the respective second devicesby using the respective telephone numbers to send, from the first deviceto the second devices, respective Short Message Service (SMS) messagesincluding a telephone number of the first device and information usableby the respective second device to send IP-based communication to thefirst device; receiving respective IP-based responses to the SMSmessages, wherein the IP-based responses to the SMS messages includelocation information of the respective second devices; transmittingIP-based messages including a location of the first device to therespective second devices; presenting, via an interactive display of thefirst device, an interactive map and a plurality of user selectablesymbols corresponding to the plurality of second devices, wherein thesymbols are positioned on the map at respective positions correspondingto the respective locations of the second devices; identifying userinteraction with the interactive display selecting one or more of theuser-selectable symbols corresponding to one or more of the seconddevices and user interaction with the display specifying an action and,based thereon, sending data to the one or more second devices; receivinguser input via user interaction with the interactive display of thefirst device, the user input specifying a location and a symbolcorresponding to an entity other than the first device and the seconddevices; and based on the user input, adding the user-specified symbolto the interactive display at a position on the interactive mapcorresponding to the user-specified location, and transmitting theuser-specified symbol and location to the second devices for addition ofthe user-specified symbol to respective interactive displays of thesecond devices at respective positions on respective interactive mapscorresponding to the user-specified location.
 29. The system of claim 28wherein the operations further comprise: presenting another symbol onthe interactive map corresponding to a fixed location and associatedwith a telephone number; and receiving user selection of the othersymbol and, based thereon, initiating a telephone call to the telephonenumber associated with the symbol.
 30. The system of claim 28 whereinthe data comprises a text message, an image, a video, or a command tocause the second devices corresponding to the selected symbols toconvert text to speech.
 31. The system of claim 28 wherein: the SMSmessages include an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first device;and the IP-based responses include respective IP addresses of the seconddevices.
 32. The system of claim 28 wherein the operations furthercomprise: transmitting location information including an updatedlocation of the first device to the second devices based on displacementof the first device by at least a predetermined distance relative to aprevious location of the first device, passage of at least aredetermined time interval since transmitting information including alocation of the first device, or a combination of the displacement ofthe first device and the passage of time.
 33. The system of claim 28wherein the operations further comprise: receiving second user selectionof one or more of the symbols corresponding to one or more of the seconddevices; and receiving user input assigning the one or more seconddevices corresponding to the second selected one or more symbols to asub-net.
 34. The system of claim 33 wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving user selection of the sub-net; and establishing aconference among the one or more second devices of the sub-net forsharing voice, text, photographs, or video communications.
 35. Thesystem of claim 28, wherein the first device is a cellular phone or apersonal digital assistant (PDA).
 36. The system of claim 28, whereinthe operations further comprise: identifying second user interactionwith the interactive display selecting at least one of theuser-selectable symbols corresponding to at least one of the seconddevices and user interaction with the display specifying an action and,based thereon, initiating a phone call or phone conference with the atleast one second device.
 37. The system of claim 30, wherein the videocomprises a video clip or a video transmission.
 38. The system of claim33, wherein the operations further comprise: receiving user selection ofthe sub-net; and causing the one or more second devices of the sub-netto place a call, make a verbal announcement, convert text to speech,vibrate, or increase sound levels.
 39. The system of claim 28, whereinthe data sent to the one or more second devices causes at least one ofthe second devices to play an audio message announcing an emergency. 40.The system of claim 28, wherein the data sent to the one or more seconddevices causes at least one of the second devices to place a phone callto the first device.
 41. A non-transitory storage device havinginstructions stored thereon that, when executed by a first device, causethe first device to perform operations comprising: obtaining contactinformation of a plurality of second devices, wherein the contactinformation comprises respective telephone numbers of the seconddevices; facilitating initiation of Internet Protocol (IP) basedcommunication between the first device and the respective second devicesby using the respective telephone numbers to send, from the first deviceto the second devices, respective Short Message Service (SMS) messagesincluding a telephone number of the first device and information usableby the respective second device to send IP-based communication to thefirst device; receiving respective IP-based responses to the SMSmessages, wherein the IP-based responses to the SMS messages includelocation information of the respective second devices; transmittingIP-based messages including a location of the first device to therespective second devices; presenting, via an interactive display of thefirst device, an interactive map and a plurality of user-selectablesymbols corresponding to the plurality of second devices, wherein thesymbols are positioned on the map at respective positions correspondingto the respective locations of the second devices; identifying userinteraction with the interactive display selecting one or more of theuser-selectable symbols corresponding to one or more of the seconddevices and user interaction with the display specifying an action and,based thereon, sending data to the one or more second devices; receivinguser input via user interaction with the interactive display of thefirst device, the user input specifying a location and a symbolcorresponding to an entity other than the first device and the seconddevices; and based on the user input, adding the user-specified symbolto the interactive display at a position on the interactive mapcorresponding to the user-specified location, and transmitting theuser-specified symbol and location to the second devices for addition ofthe user-specified symbol to respective interactive displays of thesecond devices at respective positions on respective interactive mapscorresponding to the user-specified location.
 42. The storage device ofclaim 41 wherein the operations further comprise: presenting anothersymbol on the interactive map corresponding to a fixed location andassociated with a telephone number; and receiving user selection of theother symbol and, based thereon, initiating a telephone call to thetelephone number associated with the symbol.
 43. The storage device ofclaim 41 wherein the data comprises a text message, an image, a video,or a command to cause the second devices corresponding to the selectedsymbols to convert text to speech.
 44. The storage device of claim 41wherein: the SMS messages include an Internet Protocol (IP) address ofthe first device; and the IP-based responses include respective IPaddresses of the second devices.
 45. The storage device of claim 41wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting locationinformation including an updated location of the first device to thesecond devices based on displacement of the first device by at least apredetermined distance relative to a previous location of the firstdevice, passage of at least a predetermined time interval sincetransmitting information including a location of the first device, or acombination of the displacement of the first device and the passage oftime.
 46. The storage device of claim 41 wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving second user selection of one or more of the symbolscorresponding to one or more of the second devices; and receiving userinput assigning the one or more second devices corresponding to thesecond selected one or more symbols to a sub-net.
 47. The storage deviceof claim 46 wherein the operations further comprise: receiving userselection of the sub-net; and establishing a conference among the one ormore second devices of the sub-net for sharing voice, text, photographs,or video communications.
 48. The storage device of claim 41, wherein thefirst device is a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).49. The storage device of claim 41, wherein the operations furthercomprise: identifying second user interaction with the interactivedisplay selecting at least one of the user-selectable symbolscorresponding to at least one of the second devices and user interactionwith the display specifying an action and, based thereon, initiating aphone call or phone conference with the at least one second device. 50.The storage device of claim 43, wherein the video comprises a video clipor a video transmission.
 51. The storage device of claim 46, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving user selection of the sub-net;and causing the one or more second devices of the sub-net to place acall, make a verbal announcement, convert text to speech, vibrate, orincrease sound levels.
 52. The storage device of claim 41, wherein thedata sent to the one or more second devices causes at least one of thesecond devices to play an audio message announcing an emergency.
 53. Thestorage device of claim 41, wherein the data sent to the one or moresecond devices causes at least one of the second devices to place aphone call to the first device.
 54. A method comprising: performing by afirst device: obtaining contact information of a plurality of seconddevices, wherein the contact information comprises respective telephonenumbers of the second devices; facilitating initiation of InternetProtocol (IP) based communication between the first device and therespective second devices by using the respective telephone numbers tosend, to the second devices, respective Short Message Service (SMS)messages including a telephone number of the first device andinformation usable by the respective second device to send IP-basedcommunication to the first device; receiving respective IP-basedresponses to the SMS messages, wherein the IP-based responses to the SMSmessages include location information of the respective second devices;transmitting IP-based messages including a location of the first deviceto the respective second devices; transmitting an IP-based text messageto at least one of the second devices via a cellular communicationsnetwork; presenting, via an interactive display of the first device, aninteractive map and a plurality of user selectable symbols correspondingto the plurality of second devices, wherein the symbols are positionedon the map at respective positions corresponding to the respectivelocations of the second devices; identifying user interaction with theinteractive display selecting one or more of the user-selectable symbolscorresponding to one or more of the second devices and user interactionwith the display specifying an action and, based thereon, sending datato the one or more second devices; receiving user input via userinteraction with the interactive display of the first device, the userinput specifying a location and a symbol corresponding to an entityother than the first device and the second devices; and based on theuser input, adding the user-specified symbol to the interactive displayat a position on the interactive map corresponding to the user-specifiedlocation, and transmitting the user-specified symbol and location to thesecond devices for addition of the user-specified symbol to respectiveinteractive displays of the second devices at respective positions onrespective interactive maps corresponding to the user-specifiedlocation.